Are we too young to be experiencing this??

I don't know if this is entirely true ( that all girls start earlier now). My daughter had 1 girl who started in Y6 in her year but most of her friends were 13/14/15 ( or 16 in 1 friend's case). It's probably genetics in part plus weight plus maybe exposure to artificial hormones ( in food etc) in some cases.

Not sure about "peri" a lot of my friends talk about it and I definitely have shorter cycles in my 40s now going from 22-35 days when they used to be exactly 29 days! But no other symptoms apart from length of cycle!

You can disagree all you like, the science would back me up.

Perimenopause can begin eight to 10 years before menopause when your ovaries gradually produce less and less estrogen. It usually starts when you’re in your 40s. You can be in perimenopause for several months or several years. Many people begin feeling symptoms like irregular periods, hot flashes and mood swings in perimenopause.

my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21841-menopause

@99pwithaflake I disagree. Hormonal changes can occur at any time, but it’s not peri menopause if it’s 10 years before menopause.

Honestly, this generation of women who think they’re peri menopausal as soon as they hit 30 are going to have a hell of a shock when they actually experience the real thing!

Same thing has happened to me, my period has been like clockwork all my life. I have noticed over the last 6 months they have been irregular, different lengths and heaviness, sometimes really heavy, sometimes barely nothing, I also seem to be be waiting longer between cycles, it was 8 weeks between the last two. Regularly feel tired and drained even though I sleep well. Haven't yet spoken to the GP, but it this carries on I will do.

I do wonder if using the pill for long periods of time messes up the natural scheme of things. Or any other hormone contraceptive. There is also the effect of hormone mimicked in plastics that were used in the food industry. Or UPF.

Hormones were used extensively in the food chain in the 80s and 90s when the current generation of 30-40yr olds were children.

I suppose the other factor is that women are far more comfortable talking about their bodies than previous generations so we are now more aware of what is normal and what isn’t. My cycle didn’t change in my 30s then I had a Mirena coil fitted at 40 so had no periods from then on. It was confirmed via a blood test at 57 that I was post meno. I used oestrogen patches from 54 when I noticed some symptoms, moodiness and very mild hot flushes. I had to go cold turkey at 57 and was warned it may be a bit of a tough time but apart from a few hot flushes I was fine.

There's a particular photo of me, side on, when I'm 38. It was the first time I noticed hair loss at my temples. I had night sweats and got a referral to a gyne. I had a random blood test that revealed nothing.

Roll on 4 years, still having pretty regular periods, although I missed a cycle about a year ago and the cycle length fluctuates a little. I'd had a few panic attacks on public transport in the summer, which I realised were probably hot flushes. I also became a lot more socially withdrawn and short tempered.

I'm now on HRT. I'd gone to the GP for something else, but was covered in sweat when I walked in. GP suggested it (women in her 50s). I needed a blood test as I was under 45. No negative side effects for me. Better sleep, no night sweats, no hot flushes, calmer. It's not a miracle cure, but it's helped me a lot.

Peri can definitely start around the mid-late 30s.

I turn 40 next month, but experienced similar for last year and wondered if 38-39 was peri or too early.

But reading around it does suggest so! And can last 5 or more years.

My cycles have iffy, and mental health wobbly

Good to know not alone but not keen on the idea of this lasting up to a decade!

Same age and I’ve been experiencing same. Sometimes a week late but mostly shorter cycles. Now I know it’s not just me.

Yep, it can do 😩

I'm 41 and mine started shortening around age 39. It's gone from 6-7 weeks to 4 and I'm having awful low moods and period pain I never got before! I quite enjoyed having a long cycle.

Peri lasts for a decade? 😨

I was born in 1965. Most of my friends didn't start their periods until they were 11 or 12. I was 12 before mine started ( weighed 7 stone during those years). I went into active menopause in my very late 40s. I'm 60 now and it's all been done with for 9 years as far as periods are concerned . I was a Primary teacher and , when I started teaching in 1988, it was still very unusual for a girl in year 6 to start her periods and to have them on a monthly basis. By the time I finished teaching, 20 years later, it was entirely usual for years 5 and 6 to have started and to have periods regularly . We've all got bigger and I guess if you start your periods at 8ish you'll go into peri much earlier.

It’s not “in” but all women go through it, in one way or another. If you sail through with no symptoms? Great. Some women do.
For those of us who had previously bang on regular periods, which suddenly become totally erratic, and now include the horror of “flooding”, who have never been a crier, but who start crying at at sodding toilet roll advert and who’s previously very healthy libido packs up and fucks off, leaving you a dried out itchy mess? Yes, it’s a real thing. And yes, meds absolutely help.

I think you are lucky to maybe get it over with sooner rather than later. I didn't even start to have irregular periods until I was 48 and that went on until I was 55! I was so lucky I had no other symptoms - no hot flushes, etc.but I had the worst flooding which was treated with tranexamic acid. It's fab when it's all over!

Me 36, sister 38, both having changes and symptoms. For her its drastically shorter periods, no BC. For me its brain fog, face flushing, extreme tiredness, hair loss, and my hirsutism getting worse with faster growing. I have the implant so no period.

The same is happening to me. I’m 38.

I didn't say one existed, I said if men suffered with peri (or periods, come to that) then science would have found a way to "solve" them by now (ie. make them bearable).

What’s the cure?

Yep, and one of those reasons is peri, which is very normal in your late thirties and early forties.

It's not something brand new, it's just something that's more recognised nowadays, which is absolutely a good thing, IMO. No need for anyone to struggle through it unnecessarily.

@99pwithaflakeIts definitely more recognised now. I work with mostly other women and seriously it's like anyone over the age of 30 thinks they're in Peri. Irregular cycles happen for many reasons. It just seems like Peri is a catch all.

And the irregular cycles ? Are they figments of the imagination or unrelated to hormones too? 🙄

Or maybe it's finally becoming more recognised and understood.

If men suffered from peri, there would have been a cure years ago.

Yep started at 39 still in it 8 years later